🌱 RIP Shirley Vaughan + LBFD Rescues Dogs + Drive-By On E 14th

Happy Monday, Long Beach, and happy Save the Eagles Day! Here's everything you need to know about what's happening today.

Local animal lover and advocate Shirley Vaughan has died. Also, the FD saved dogs while putting out a residential structure fire. Finally, there was a drive-by shooting on East 14th.

First, today's weather:

Mostly cloudy. High: 71 Low: 48.

Here are the top five stories in Long Beach today:

1. Tireless animal advocate Shirley Vaughan died just before Christmas at the age of 73. In 1989, she became the co-founder of Friends of Long Beach Animals. Besides that, she trapped feral cats and got them spayed or neutered, transported cats to adoption events, and served on the board of the Long Beach Canine Officers Association. “Shirley’s devotion and action have in great part contributed to the benefits that shelter and rescue pets have received and continue to receive.” (LB Post)
2. On Saturday, there was a fire on the 1400 block of Orange Avenue. The LBFD arrived at 1:06 p.m. and extinguished the fire by 1:15 p.m. In addition to saving the building, the firefighters also rescued three dogs and assisted the pets with supplemental oxygen. (Long Beach Fire Department)
3. There was a drive-by shooting at the 1600 block of East 14th Street on Sunday. Two young teens were wounded a little before 6:30 a.m. According to the victims, they were “standing in the area when a vehicle pulled up nearby, and an unknown number of suspects from inside the vehicle shot them.” (LB Post)
4. On Friday evening, a car veered off the road and drove into a house at the intersection of West 26th Street and South Pacific Avenue. The Kia SUV hit the home around 9:30 p.m. Officers suspect that speed was to blame for the crash. However, the home’s resident says that there used to be a guardrail blocking his home from traffic. Had it been there, “the outcome of the crash might have been different.” (CBS)
5. Long Beach City Council Member Al Austin, who currently represents the 8th District, announced his candidacy for the 69th State Assembly District on Friday. The announcement came on the heels of Assembly Member Patrick O’Donnell’s retirement announcement. The candidate to beat is Josh Lowenthal, the son of retiring congressional representative Alan Lowenthal. “I’ve spent my career fighting for working families as a labor representative and as a city council member,” said Austin. (KNX)

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Today in Long Beach:

• How To Improve Your Memory (online class) (11 AM)
• MS-Body Basics Exercise Class at the Anderson Memorial Senior Citizen Center (1 PM)
• Grab 'N' Go Lunches For K-12 students at Kingdom Life Christian Fellowship (2:15 PM)
• Eric Marienthal performs at Spaghettini (6 PM)
• Salsa Bachata at the PCH Club (9 PM)

From my notebook:

• A Historic Zaferia Village-NE neighbor is warning parents about a skateboarding teacher shouting profanities at Orizaba Park. (Nextdoor)
• Our West Bixby Knolls neighbor noticed that the Lindenwood Condominium property still has auto break-ins despite surveillance cameras and a security guard. If you park inside the parking garage: don’t leave your garage remote, personal property, or even a box of Kleenex inside. (Nextdoor)
• A kind DeForest Park neighbor found a dog at the corner of Osgood and Jaymills. He is very sweet, hungry and thirsty. They can't keep him for long. (Nextdoor)
• A Ridgewood Cove neighbor is wondering if anyone is selling or adopting out any English bulldogs puppies. (Nextdoor)
• A Houghton Park-NLB neighbor reports seeing what looks to be a Macaw in the front yard. If anyone is missing one, it was seen in the vicinity of 64th and Cerritos. It was walking, not flying. The neighbors were trying to catch it. (Nextdoor)

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Thanks for following along and staying informed! I'll be back in your inbox tomorrow morning with a new update.

— Sylvia Cochran

About me: Sylvia Cochran works out of sunny Southern California and has been freelance writing full-time since 2005. She loves dogs, cats, books, plays Best Fiends (don't judge), embraces social justice, and tries to live out Micah 6:8.